“Michael Brian Vanderboegh, a longtime militia member and founder of the III Percent Patriot Movement which was supported by Jerad and Amanda Miller, travelled to NYS at least once in 2013 to speak to the Liberty Oath Keepers meeting in Monticello, NY.,” the “official use only” bulletin marked “Not for public or media release” advises. “The III Percent Patriots are a militia group comprised primarily of gun rights extremists who believe in the need to use violence against the government to prevent what they believe to be an impending seizure of all private firearms.

“The name derives from ‘an obscure, and not particularly accurate, Revolutionary War “statistic” that claimed that only 3% of the American population during the Revolutionary War participated as combatants in the war,” it explains. “The Oath Keepers is an organization composed of current and former military and law enforcement personnel who take a pledge to ‘not obey unconstitutional orders such as orders to disarm the American people, to conduct warrantless searches, or to detain Americans as enemy combatants.’

“There have been multiple observed instances of overlapping membership in the Oath Keepers and the III Percent Patriots, and the Oath Keepers’ founder has spoken supportively of the III Percent Patriot Movement,” the section concludes.

Footnotes make it clear the “information” is being sourced from the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League, both “progressive” groups vehemently anti-gun, at least the privately-owned kind, and neither shy about portraying their ideological opponents as domestic terrorists. (SPLC’s attacks on Oath Keepers have been documented in this column for years.)

While some are claiming New York is behind the curve because the FBI has distanced itself from SPLC, that may be wishful thinking based on a website modification.

“[A] public statement from the FBI and the agency’s own website indicate the removal may mean just that — removal from the site, not a diminishing of the relationship between the two organizations,” a HotAir article cautions. “[T]he spokesperson’s statement indicates the change may just be a public relations move, not a substantive shift in FBI policy.”

“They embraced militia values — except they didn’t, the Three Percent movement is a militia — except it isn’t.” he continued. “And the Three Percent are paranoids for believing that the New York state cops are going to seize semi-auto weapons — except they are.

“Other than that, this is a totally accurate report, Vanderboegh observed. “Does that clear things up for you?

“It’s funny but it’s not,” he cautioned. “This report goes out to police everywhere. Many are going to accept it as gospel. And who do you think they’re going to be reporting? You, with the Oath Keepers tee shirt. You, with the Three Percent patch. You, with the Gadsden flag out in front of your house or the ‘Don’t tread on me’ sticker on your pickup truck. Because everyone now ‘knows’ because of sloppy propaganda like this piece of trash that the Gadsden flag equals Three Percent equals Oath Keeper equals domestic terrorist equals meth-head cop killer.”

That, of course, is the objective, and even clumsier propaganda has been seized on by groups that are desperate for attention and relevance, coming up with stupid slogans like “Let’s tread on them” accompanied by even more stupid graphics.

It’s part of a long-standing and not particularly successful attempt by the “progressives” to chill dissent by making gun owners fear to speak out lest they be tarred with the brush of extremist. Perversely, those who want them to feel that way have been known to come up with extremist advocacy positions like ‘Isn’t it time we started rounding up promoters of hate before they kill?” and “These town hall terrorists could be declared enemy combatants and bundled off to Bagram with the stroke of a pen. If ever there were a reason for suspending civil rights, this is it,” and “Send the guilty monsters directly to Guantanamo Bay for all eternity and let them rot in their own mental squalor.”

As Vanderboegh might say, it’s funny, because of the personal frustrated impotence of the defective cultists doing the demanding, but it’s not, because their voices influence weak minds and embolden politicians, and enable enforcers who then cynically justify terror tactics they’re increasingly confident in using.

“Law enforcement leaders from the Department of Justice, the FBI, the ATF, Chicago police and other regional agencies gathered for a show and tell … of what they believe can be a key tool to reducing gun violence and arresting people who use and sell illegal guns — a group they call ‘three percenters’,” WGN reported.

“The core mission of the Crime Gun Center is to identify these shooters, or these ‘three percenters,’ and the traffickers that sell them guns and get them off our streets,” ATF Special Agent in Charge Carl Vasilko explained.

That’s what ATF has decided to call violent criminals who use guns? Does anyone think the adoption of that name is just a coincidence, coming from the machine Vanderboegh embarrassed with his groundbreaking Operation Fast and Furious revelations and efforts? And curiously, although not surprisingly, its being directed by agents of an administration that is more than happy to befriend extremist “percenters” it approves of.